Save Amherst Island

We are now into the home stretch of this fund-raising campaign. The Premier and the Minister of Energy have acknowledged the significant problems with the electrical energy sector. Now is NOT the time for APAI to reduce its efforts. Your incredible Defence Team, who have volunteered 1000's of hours on your behalf, needs your financial support to defeat this project.

Please invest in the island's future by donating or pledging to this campaign whatever amount you can.

ALGONQUIN BULLYING LOYALIST TOWNSHIP AND ITS AMHERST ISLAND RESIDENTS

Windlectric/Algonquin, the company granted approval to build 26, fifty storey turbines informed the MOECC that it plans to commence construction around November 15, 2016.

This Notice comes a week after Loyalist Township’s CAO advised the company that the Township could not comment on the Operations Plan submitted by Windlectric because of its inadequacy. The CAO wrote that “If a public meeting were held on the basis of this document, we fully expect that the residents would be left with more questions than answers, defeating the purpose of the public meeting.”

The Township requested a meeting to explain the deficiencies so that the company understands what additional detail is necessary to allow the Township to provide comments on the Plan.

The Notice of Commencement of Construction ignores a Road Use Agreement between the Township and Windlectric signed in October 2015. The Agreement stipulates that “Windlectric will host a Town Hall meeting to obtain feedback from the public and address concerns to minimize the level of disruption, disturbance and inconvenience to the Municipality’s residents.”

Call to Action

Please request Premier Wynne (premier@ontario.ca or 416-325-1941) and Minister Murray (minister.moe@ontario.ca or 416-314-6790) to reject Windlectric's Notice of Commencement and direct that no construction proceed until all approvals and permits are in place.

We are being bullied AND we are resilient, tenacious, and absolutely committed.

AMHERST ISLAND NO PLACE FOR TURBINES: RUNCIMAN

NEWS RELEASE>
OTTAWA, January 10, 2014 – It will be a dereliction of duty if the Ministry of Environment allows a major industrial wind turbine project to go ahead on Amherst Island, Senator Bob Runciman said today.

Runciman was responding to the news that the Ontario government has deemed complete a Renewable Energy Approval application by Windlectric for up to 37 giant turbines to be installed on Amherst Island, just west of Kingston. The government is now inviting public comment on the proposal until March 8.

The senator, who introduced a motion passed unanimously by the Senate two years ago calling for a moratorium on such projects in Important Bird Areas such as Amherst Island, has written the Ministry of the Environment objecting to this latest project. He noted that a similar project on Wolfe Island, also an Important Bird Area, has proven to be one of the deadliest for birds and bats in North America.

“The government is riding roughshod over local objections, including by the duly elected council of Loyalist Township, and ignoring that this is one of the most critical areas for birds in North America, and home to 34 species at risk,” Runciman said.

“If anyone came along with a proposal posing this kind of threat to birds and other wildlife in such a sensitive area, but it didn’t have the words ‘Green Energy’ stamped on it, there would be no question this government would put a stop to it,” Runciman said. “And if they didn’t, the environmental lobby would harass them until they did. But because it’s green energy, the environmental movement seems content to ignore the despoiling of the environment and the wanton killing of birds.”

The situation is even more tragic, considering that the expansion of renewables, which typically provide power at times when there is no demand, has resulted in a huge over-supply of electricity, meaning it is being sold to places like Michigan, Minnesota and Quebec at a fraction of the cost of generation.

“We are destroying the quality of life in rural communities to produce power we don’t need and then giving that power away to neighbouring jurisdictions at roughly 25 per cent of the cost we’re paying to generate it. Then those jurisdictions use that cheap power to compete with Ontario industries. Is it any wonder Ontario lost more than 39,000 jobs last month alone?” Runciman said.